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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202126">Monsters Of Despair Breaking Through Shattered Chains</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Snow/pseuds/Winter_Snow'>Winter_Snow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Author Is Sleep Deprived, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, F/M, Kaito is trying his best, Light Angst, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Oma Kokichi Being Oma Kokichi, Other, Platonic Relationships, Relationships aren't the focus, Sleeping Together, Transformation, Vomiting, because they are the best trio in danganronpa fight me, but it's platonic so it's all good, kaito centric, now including cool ass art by my cool ass friends, set in the forth chapter, some fluff but it's a trap, someone give them all a hug please, these bitches are turning into monsters yo, training trio friendship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:07:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,403</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202126</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Snow/pseuds/Winter_Snow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The remaining eight students are presented with a new motive, that according to Monokuma will twist a few of their classmate's bodies into that of a horrific monster.<br/>But, It can't actually be real right?<br/>Even in this place humans turning into monsters is out of the realm of possibilities, right?<br/>It's just Monokuma trying to mess with them all again!<br/>But.. If that's really the case why do Maki and Shuichi feel this way?</p><p>Like something deep inside them is trying to rip out?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harukawa Maki &amp; Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Iruma Miu/K1-B0, Momota Kaito &amp; Saihara Shuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Monster Motive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hellos! Hellos!<br/>Welcome to this glorious little fic I'm currently writing!<br/>This particular fanfiction isn't going to be anything too long or plot-driven (as I just wanted to turn Maki and Shuichi into monsters), I'm just using it as a warm-up actually for a much bigger fanfic I'm planning to write (that may or may not also contain charters turning into horrific monsters).<br/>Even with that though, I hope you enjoy this little fic and have a somewhat nice time reading it!<br/>I'm not entirely sure how fast my updates will be, but I can promise you, this will be updated eventually.<br/>I might even have the motivation to get them out faster If any of you end up really liking it so far.<br/>Anyhow, that's really all I had to say, so I apologize for any spelling mistakes you will probably see and I hope you enjoy the read!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The academy gym was mostly silent despite the remaining eight students all confound inside.<br/>The majority of them shuffling anxiously from where they stood, eyes all on the stage that was still devoid of any robotic bears.</p>
<p>Kaito tapped his slippered foot impatiently, “stupid damn bear, if he’s going to call us here again, he could at least be on time!”<br/>Besides him Shuichi put a hand over his mouth, “I wonder.. what the motive is going to be this time..” he asked softly.</p>
<p>Maki sighed from his other side and shook her head, “Let’s just hope It’s not another one involving ghosts or the dead, or Kaito will be more useless than usual again.”<br/>“H..hey!” the astronaut protested, giving the female a frightened look, his gut already churning at the mere mention of them, “I wasn’t ever useless and... will you stop bringing them up already?!”<br/>The assassin only sighed in disappointment, “you’re only proving my point..”<br/>Kaito only made several noises of disagreement to this.<br/>It wasn’t his fault the stupid floaty things freaked him out so much..<br/>They were creepy!!</p>
<p>“Whatever it fucking is it better not take any more time away from me and my precious computer!” Miu howled, throwing both her hands up in aggravation.<br/>“I still don’t understand why you have to spend so much time with that thing anyways,” the ultimate robot huffed.<br/>“Nihehe.. Wow, she was sure fast to replace you, Key-boy! Looks like the better machine puts it out a lot better than you ever could!”<br/>“Shut up Kokichi!” the robot hissed, turning a bright shade of red, “b..besides as a robot, I can hardly put out!”<br/>The small boy in question sniffled, tears gleaming in his eyes, “Hey, don’t yell at me..”</p>
<p>Everyone in the gym collectively sighed, the tension leaving the room if only slightly, now all more annoyed than anything.</p>
<p>“Nyaaa! No one cares! Now where Monokuma!? All this standing around is hurting my feet!” Himiko whined.<br/>“Oh! Himiko’s feet hurt! Gonta can carry you if want!”</p>
<p>Now that everyone was a tad more relaxed the room buzzed softly with playful conversation and heated arguments alike, not even noticing it when Monokua finally appeared on the stage a handful of minutes later, clapping his paws to get the other’s attention.<br/>No one seemed to hear him, angering the bear enough to make him shriek loudly, waving his paws around like a child throwing a tantrum.<br/>“I’m here now damn it, so stop your complaining already!”</p>
<p>All the teens instantly looked up to the bear, eyes glimmering with hatred, fear, and or in one case dismissity.<br/>Kaito of course sprung forward first, shaking his fist threateningly at their captor, “Hey Monokuma! Whatever damn motive you dragged us here for, we’re not going to let it manipulate us again!”<br/>The robot only cocked his head at him as Miu scoffed, “tell that to that gimp Korekiyo.”<br/>Himiko flinched.<br/>“That’s different he was a mass murder! His killings had nothing to do with submitting to the last motive!” Kaito disagreed with a stomp.<br/>Monokuma only chuckled, “Oh you cute naive little spaceman! Sometimes I wonder If I picked the right person to play protagonist, puhuhuhuhu!”</p>
<p>“Cut the crap…. Both of you,” Maki said, grabbing Kaito tightly by the arm and narrowing her eyes at the bear, “will you hurry up and tell us what it is? I’m not in the mood.”<br/>Monokuma pouted as much as a robot bear could pout, “shut up! Let me have my moment okay?! My cubs got to hand out the last two motives after all!”<br/>“I don’t care,” Maki growled.<br/>“Umm.. uhh,” Shuichi muttered, anxiously glancing between the two of them, “we’re all listening now, so just tell us.”<br/>“No, no, no! Not yet! I gotta add some suspension to it for dramatic effect!” Monokuma whined, wiggling his rear before clearing his nonexistent throat, “drum roll please!”</p>
<p>There was an awkward beat of silence.<br/>Was… something supposed to happen?<br/>“Ahem! Yo Seri or Keebo or whatever you’re called, play a drum roll!” <br/>“What?! How dare you I’m not a smartphone! I’m so much more than something as pathic as that!” Keebo snapped, as always highly offended. <br/>“It’s probably because you don’t even have functions as simple as that,” Himiko yawned.<br/>“H..Himiko! I really think you should stop being so mean to Keebo! You don’t want to have an incident like they did in blame!” Tsumugi warned.<br/>Keebo exclaimed loudly, in danger of going on another one of his robophobic rants before Monokuma snarled again, “UGH! Shut up! Shut up! Quit stealing my thunder! A.. anyways cubs be useful for once and give me a drum roll before I use you as drums!”</p>
<p>“Ohh! Yes, father!” Monotaro hollered, appearing from nowhere with sticks in both paws, beating them agist the floor.<br/>Monokuma snickered, “alrighttttttt! The wonderful, twisted, spine-tingling motive, that will shake all of you to the core. That will twist your bodies beyond your comprehension, drive you insane to the point of murder, distort your forms into something unholy, mangle your-”<br/>“Get on with it!” Over half the teens in the room snapped irritably.<br/>“Don’t be so rude! You would think with all your attitudes I killed all your friends in front of you or something.. Hump! Anyways.. This motive is called” he paused dramatically with Monotaro finishing up his drumroll, “the monster motive!”</p>
<p>“Huh?” Kaito grunted, anger simmering down due to his confusion, “The hell you mean monster motive?”<br/>“Ya, The fuck? You going to make us all sex-craved and hump each other or something?!”<br/>“Let’s hope not..” Maki sniffed at the inventor.<br/>“Oh no! Are you going to fuse us all together into an unholy abomination with alchemy!?” Tsmugi gasped in horror, her eyes going wide. <br/>Everyone erupted into more talk, with Shuichi being the only real silent one, his hand over his mouth a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead, “are you.. Going to alter one of our minds somehow and make us act like some kind of monster?” the detective asked carefully.<br/>“Huh?! Mentally? You really think they can require someone’s mind like that?” Kaito exclaimed, looking down at the shorter teen.<br/>More than a little concerned about the thought of one or more of his classmate's minds being warped in such a way.<br/>“N..no! If Gona monster he can’t be gentleman!” The gentle giant cried fearfully.</p>
<p>“No, that’s dumb Shuichi!” Himiko snapped, “He’s obviously going to put a curse on us and turn us into ugly creatures physically!”<br/>“Uhh Himiko, I don’t think that’s pos-”<br/>“Ding, ding, ding!” That’s absolutely right! Right, but wrong!” Monokuma cackled.<br/>Shuichi blinked, “um, who is?”<br/>“Don’t be dense shit-ichi he clearly means you-”<br/>“Na, uh, uh!” the bear taunted, waving a paw a Miu, “I clearly meant Himiko!”<br/>The robot was once again met with cold silence.<br/>Confusion and dreed creeping across all their faces.</p>
<p>The evil bear grinned, “allow me to explain, this motive is a little different from any other motive any of you have ever seen! It’s not something as stupid and cliche as a curse, but in a few days or so a chosen couple of you will transform into legit tooth and fang monsters! Rawr! Rawr!”</p>
<p>“Wa.. what!? Quit screwing around! That’s not possible!” <br/>“Ya! Kaito’s right!” Tsumgi agreed, wringing her hands together.<br/>Kokioichi tisked at her, “aww come on Tsumugi even like you have to admit that in this academy.. like the idiot astronaut says the impossible is possible all you gotta do is make it so!”<br/>“Hey! Don’t steal my catchphrase!”<br/>“Y..yes,” Keebo started ignoring Kaito completely, “but changing a humans biology that drastically is-”<br/>“Clearly a made-up fairy tale,” Maki finished, altho there was a very small glint of uncertainty in her eyes.</p>
<p>Monokuma looked annoyed, “denial! Denial! Take this motive as you want, it could very well result in your deaths and all kinds of juicy drama, so it’ll be more fun for me!”<br/>“Could.. You explain this motive more?” Shichi asked, his eyes narrowing.<br/>“Gladly! You see just last night I made my cute little cubs add a little secret spice to a few of your dinners last night! I bet the students in question are already feeling more than a little odd to the point you definitely know what’s going to happen to you! And if you guys don’t find those people and act accordingly, they’ll turn into bloodthirsty monsters and might even rip you all limb from limb! Cool right?!”</p>
<p>Feeling odd?<br/>Was it..him?<br/>No.. no, he had been feeling bad for several days now not just this morning, and besides.. what he had was a lot more than merely feeling ‘odd.’<br/>The spaceman half wondered if this whole thing was to throw HIM off, his glare hardening at the robot.</p>
<p>“Oh, wowie! I see, that’s a pretty cool motive Monokuma! So who are they? Will they be cute fluffy monsters!? Ohhhh! When they transform I wanta pet them!” Kokichi spoke up, putting his hands behind his head as he looked over the remaining students, “guys! Fess up who’s feeling sick?! We can’t have you eating anyone so we might as well have Gona break your necks first!”<br/>“What?! Gonta no do that! Gonta would never beak anyone’s neck!”<br/>“I..I thought you just said you wanted to pet them or some shit,” Miu grumbled, twisting a lock of her hair with her fingers.<br/>“Oh, that was a lie, if this motive is real, killing them would really be in our best interest don’t you think?”</p>
<p>No one had anything to say to that.<br/>“Puhuhuhuhu, for so many of you saying this motive is fake, you all sure look pale! It is because you know it’s you? Or maybe it’s just a physiological thing with the whole ‘if you feel sick’ thing,” the bear shrugged, “hmm I wonder what conclusion you will come to with all this.. Oh well! Whatever you do or choose I’m sure It’ll be entertaining!”<br/>With that along with a long, drawn-out laugh, the bear and his cub vanished within the blink of an eye, leaving the teenagers alone with each other once again.</p>
<p>“Monster motive, nya.. Don’t worry everyone! I..I think I can break the spell of whoever drank the monster potion, I just need to focus my magic for a while or maybe make another potion to counter it!” the ultimate mage spoke up softly.<br/>“Don’t be stupid Himiko! Monokuma’s just trying to pin us agist each other again!” Humans can’t just turn into monsters! I mean sure the Monokubs and flashback lights are a thing, but that can all be summed up to technology shit!” He snapped ignoring the sharp pain that shot up his stomach.<br/>“Ya, space dicks got a point! I mean, I could make more impressive robot bears! Transformation stuff is the shit of weird kinks!”<br/>Keebo looked mildly offended for whatever reason but nodded along with the inverter, “I agree! This motive is obviously just Monokua trying to mess with us again! Everyone agrees, correct?”</p>
<p>Tsmugi, Himiko, Gonta, and Kokichi looked unsure.<br/>“I dono! I can tell by your faces that a couple of you are feeling a little under the weather.. Even if this motive is fake, I say we should be very careful. Someone might get the wrong idea and kill you if you're acting odd or we don’t take this seriously like the majority wants and the monsters could kill us all, we don’t want that, right Gonta?” The supreme leader asked slyly.<br/>“Yes! Gonta agree! We must be careful! No want friends to hurt each other!” <br/>“I.. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Kokichi plainly has a point! We could all die! We should at least ask around if-”<br/>“Screw that!” Kaito interrupted the cosplayer, having had enough of the bullshit being spouted, “that would still be playing into Monokuma’s hands! Right sidekicks?”</p>
<p>The two ultimates in question, who had been eerily quiet up to now, said nothing.<br/>Shuichi's hand remained over his mouth, still in deep thought and Maki looked more uncomfortable than anything.</p>
<p>“Hey come on Shuichi! It’s not like you zone out!” Kaito told him waving a hand in front of his face, starting to get a tad worried about his friend.<br/>He hadn’t reacted to the other motives like this.<br/>Shuichi removed his hand and gave him an apologetic look, “ahh sorry just thinking Kaito.”<br/>“Of course you’re right, even an idiot like you can tell something like this is fake, I don’t even know why you're bothering to ask us,” Maki replied hesitantly.</p>
<p>The astronaut’s worried gaze turned to her, something about the way not just Shichi, but Maki as well seemed like the two were nervous about something.<br/>His poor sidekicks, the motive must have shaken them up..<br/>Was it because… they noticed something about his own sickness and were getting the wrong idea?<br/>That… definitely wasn’t good!</p>
<p>He was sure to give them a grin, “haha! Definitely! See everyone there's no need to worry! It’s fine!”<br/>Suspicion glinted in Kokichi’s eyes as he gazed at him, that was enough to make Kaito fight off a bloody cough that was rising in his throat.<br/>“I don’t knowwww, Shuichi didn’t say no. Tell us Mr. Detective, are you feeling weird at all? Huh, are you?! Are you!?”<br/>“No, I’m not, but Kaito’s right, this is just Monokuma messing with us, we can’t bend to his will no matter what.”<br/>Kokichi and the other believers still looked unsure, but at least now seemed to be a tad more calm thanks to the detective's input.</p>
<p>“Well, I guess we’re outnumbered when it comes to double checking everyone,” Himiko mumbled, “but even so.. I’ll practice my curse breaking spell in case anything bad happens.”<br/>“Ahahaha! Monokuma is the real stupid one if he thinks this golden girl genius is falling for his shitty motive! Think up something better next time you ugly bear!” Miu howled, slapping Keebo playfully on the back before spinning on her heel, “welp! If you virgins are done with this stupid shit I’m going back to my fucking computer.”<br/>“B..but Miu! You’ve been working on that thing for days! Can’t we hang out now?!” Keebo whined and chased right after her like a hopeless puppy.</p>
<p>Kaito didn’t bother calling after the two of them, this conversation seemed done anyhow and he highly doubted people like Miu and Keebo would end up being concerned about this particular motive.</p>
<p>“Hump, you guys do what you want, but don’t come crawling.. Or limping to me when you get mauled,” Kokichi said nonchalantly and with a wave and a large grin strolled out the door as well.<br/>Well.. at least he was gone.<br/>Kokichi annoyed the ever-loving crap out of Kaito sometimes.<br/>He was just making everyone more stressed than they already were.<br/>Would it kill him not to be a jerk!?</p>
<p>The purpled haired teen watched him leave before looking back over to his sidekicks, the strange expressions still clear on their faces.<br/>The astronaut cocked his head at them, there really was something up with them.<br/>They seemed so glum.<br/>Was it really about him? Or something else entirely?<br/>Well, whatever it was he couldn’t let them stay down like that!<br/>He was the hero after all.</p>
<p>“Cheer up you two!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms around both their shoulders, “wipe that look off your faces! Neither of you needs to worry about that stupid motive! Even the people that actually believe in it don't seem all into it like the last motive!”<br/>Maki turned beat red and pushed his arm off her, “shut it, I’m not worried about that.”<br/>Kaito only laughed, making Shuichi smile faintly.<br/>“Right! Right! Anyways what do you say we do to our usual spot and work out for a while? You guys look like you could use it!”<br/>He asked them enthusiastically, ignoring the continued pains in his gut at the mention of exercise.</p>
<p>“Y..Ya that sounds good Kaito,” Shuichi agreed.<br/>“Whatever,” Maki sniffed.<br/>“Good!” Kaito beamed, “let’s all do crunches and planks then! It’ll be fun!”<br/>“Huh? Planks!? but Kaito-”<br/>“Lots and lots of planks!” Kaito interrupted, ushering his two sidekicks out the door and past the few others who remained.<br/>Not noticing the odd slowness of his sidekick's movements as if neither of them was feeling well..</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Tsmugi eagerly rubbed her hands together as she bounced around her room, hardly able to keep in her excitement as the cosplayer let out several small squeals of joy.</p>
<p>She still could hardly believe they had accepted her added motive like that!<br/>Maybe it was just because they were desperate to save the failing season but this was going to boost the ratings big time, she just knew it!<br/>It was so exciting and new!</p>
<p>Not enough stories went into the underrated trope of creature transformations after all!<br/>Especially when they were dealt with in serious and deadly manors!<br/>She didn’t understand how little the trope was used in the media, you could go so many places with it!<br/>Do so many creative things and most importantly..</p>
<p>A cruel smile stretched across her face so twisted that if anyone had the misfortune to see it they would be pissing themselves.<br/>This motive had the opportunity to be such a delicious angst fest!<br/>The pain! The tears! The dread of your body changing before your eyes with the person unable to stop it as they pleaded and screamed for it to stop!<br/>Or on the other side of things.. helplessly watching as your dear friends form twisting and changing into something horrific, helpless to do anything but watch them suffer!</p>
<p>She was shaking now.<br/>Not with any kind of fear of course, but with even more excitement.<br/>Her thoughts flowed into an incoherent mess of possible outcomes, unstable giggles leaving her mouth as she jumped around the room even faster.<br/>This was going to be so much fun!<br/>She was already so pumped up to watch everything go down, see all her charters reactions!<br/>Especially Kaito’s!<br/>She was going to get so many golden reactions out of him before the space man kicked the bucket..</p>
<p>Thinking out it, she might have to instruct a staff member to give him something to slow his sickness a little so he didn’t waste any important plot points and neal over and die from stress before he was supposed to. <br/>The only real problem was anyone actually killing them both before they actually turned, but that could be quickly solved with a flashback light if any of them got too aggressive about it if they ever found out.<br/>Other than that, everything was going smoothly, she was even going to get a front row seat to what was going to happen!<br/>A privilege she didn’t get in the last two.</p>
<p>Her breath wearing a bit thin, as she bounced onto her bed eagerly pulling out the two design sheets she couldn’t help but keep from between the mattress, gazing at them lovingly.<br/>She was still proud of the designs she had come up with, very much so.<br/>Both horrific with a bit of cuteness mixed in the ring.<br/>Tsmugi squealed happily, hugging the things to her chest.<br/>Just three more days.<br/>Three more days of waiting and the scene of a lifetime would play right before her eyes.<br/>She just hopes the audience liked it as much as she knew she would!!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Dream Soaked In Pink</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Maki and Shuchui discuss what they've been feeling together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>SUP!?</p>
<p>That was fast wasn't it now?<br/>I got excited and decided to say 'fuck it' and write another chapter before all the motivation left me.<br/>There's nothing too amazing going on in this chapter, just more build-up, but things will pick up soon I can promise you that!<br/>Anyhow, even it's mostly dialogue, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night was cool as Shuchi did yet another painful push-up.<br/>Kaito had already run off a good few minutes ago, something about his stomach problems, so he was all alone in the darkness of the Academy, … or so he thought he was.</p>
<p>The detective had just finished the overwhelming amount of exercises Kaio had instructed him to do, getting back to his wobbly feet and dusting the dirt off his pants, his body aching a lot more than it should.<br/>An odd, unreal ache that affected even his bones and insides, that had been bothering him for a few days and never seemed to go away.</p>
<p>“Hey.”<br/>Shuichi blinked in surprise, looking to his friend, Maki was still here?<br/>He thought she left like she usually did after she finished her own set.<br/>So.. why did she stay?<br/>Did she want to speak to him about something?<br/>“Maki? Is something wrong?”<br/>The girl’s expression was almost nervous as she bit down on her thumb, “you’ve been feeling unusually ill lately haven’t you?” she asked softly.</p>
<p>He jolted, a shiver running down his spine despite how sweaty he currently was.<br/>The strange phantom pains he had been feeling on his back growing stronger if only for a moment.</p>
<p>“Uhh.. I..I,” he stammered not sure how to respond to the other ultimate.<br/>He shouldn’t have been surprised she caught on, this was Maki after all, but the boy couldn’t help but feel his dreed increase.<br/>Not because he didn’t trust her of course, but that saying it out loud.. <br/>Admitting he really was feeling like Monokuma said a few of them might, would make it… real.<br/>That despite the insanity of Monokuma’s new motive, it had a touch of reality to it.<br/>“It’s okay.. I’ve been feeling ill too, the same kind of ill that you’re feeling if what I’m thinking is correct.”</p>
<p>Shuichi snapped his head over to her, “you have?!” he cried, more than a little startled by this information.</p>
<p>Sure Maki had been a tad more pale sense this motive had been released, but he had frankly been paying more attention to trying to figure out his own worrying symptoms to take notice of the others around him.<br/>Had been panicking about himself too much to notice her..<br/>He swallowed back his guilt.</p>
<p>“Lower your voice!” she hissed, looking back to the dorms for a moment.<br/>The detective muttered a sorry before Maki shook her head, “and yes, I have, It started the night before Monokuma revealed the monster’s motive.. Everything, even my hair and… nails have been hurting. It’s like I’m back at the assassin camp, but somethings off. Things are hurting that I don’t even think are possible to hurt and I know it sounds stupid, but my body feels like..” she trailed off, clearly unnerved as she shifted around on her feet.</p>
<p>“Like something is about to rip out from inside you. A.. a little like when you’re trying to get out a sneeze and it just won’t come out, so you’re just kind of… almost wishing, but still dreading for it to happen?” Shuichi finished, his words spilling out as he rubbed a hand over the invisible pain in his back, a foreign part of his mind expecting another body part to be there.</p>
<p>The assassin eyed him warily, “By this point, do you still think the motive really is just a lie like Kaito said? What we’re feeling can’t be described as natural.”<br/>The detective made a face, “It’s the only logical thing I can come to. Humans turning into monsters isn’t something we should jump to this quickly, especially with how tense everyone is.. I think it’s more likely that Monokuma drugged us with something to make us think we really will transform and send the others into a full-blown panic.”</p>
<p>“I know drugs, and I’ve never heard of a drug that gives you side effects like this unless it’s some kind of hallucinogen which I doubt, it’s unlikely for both of us to have the exact same hallucinations anyhow..” she paused expression becoming even more disturbed than before, “drugs wouldn’t explain the weird dream I had either. It might just be because of everything going on, but the one I had last night was extremely real-”<br/>“Wait,” Shuichi interrupted, shuttering once again, “You… had a nightmare last night too? Were.. you a monster in it?” he asked cautiously, unable to help thinking back to that horrific dream.</p>
<p>Blood.<br/>Blood.<br/>Blood coating his claws as he tore at his friend’s soft flesh.<br/>Their screams turning gurgled as he ripped their throats cleanout.<br/>Body parts of all sizes littering the ground like they were parts of a doll, a child had torn out of their sockets.<br/>They were different from all the other corpses he had seen because he knew he was the one that had snuffed out their lives as they begged him not to, pink liquid splattering the walls like it was one of Angie’s abstract paintings.<br/>Worst of all he could remember how easily his sharp fangs sunk into Kaito’s body as he tore the closest friend in years apart, then shortly after the sensation of a sharp blade penetrating his feathery chest as Maki stabbed her signature blade deep into it.<br/>Ending his killing spree.<br/>The memory was enough to make him feel like vomiting again.</p>
<p>Maki met his eyes and for the first time, he swore he saw a very small flash of fear, “you.. had one too? Let me guess, did you.. Kill the others in it?”<br/>“Ya,” Shuichi confirmed quietly.<br/>It was the worst dream Shuichi had had in a very long time and scared him enough that he was having second thoughts about even trying to go to sleep tonight.<br/>He wondered if the same went for Maki..<br/>She was probably a lot more used to nightmares than him, but that dream of hers must have had Kaito in it…</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the fact that they both had very similar nightmares was unsettling.<br/>Maki went eerily quiet for a few seconds, “Than.. if we’re even having dreams to that level of similarities, can you still say what we’re going through is because of some kind of unknown drug?” <br/>“I’m not sure,” he admitted truthfully.<br/>“You’re not sure?” she mimicked, brow furrowing in annoyance, “I thought you were supposed to be a detective.”<br/>“I know! I know!” he snapped a lot sharper than he meant to, “but I’m trying okay?! I don’t have a lot to work with this time! A detective is supposed to work off logic! And I know what we’re feeling is unnatural, but a drug is a lot more likely than us turning into literal monsters! We’re falling into Monokuma’s hands if we keep thinking like that with such little proof.”</p>
<p>Maki didn’t look startled by his outburst, “I guess, but even if the others panic a little and the percent of it actually happening is low, isn’t it better to at least take a few precautions? The others already think I’m a monster anyway, there’s no way they can get even more scared of me than they already are and.. I don’t want to take any risks hurting Kaito or you,” she revealed quietly, looking away from him as if admitting such a thing was shameful.<br/>Her care was enough to make the detective's chest feel a little less tight.</p>
<p>“I.. understand, I’m a little worried about it myself and I think you’re right. I should worry more about this. So to try and debunk as much as I can, I’m going to stop eating for a few days.”<br/>Maki looked taken aback, “you’re what?”<br/>“Stop eating,” Shuichi repeated, “If Monokuma really is drugging us like I think, he’s most likely doing it through our food source, he basically said he was himself, so if I just stop eating for a few days this drug is bound to wear off and if not.. We’ll have a lot more to worry about.”<br/>The other ultimate tapped her cheek, “that’s not a bad idea, It’s the only thing we can do for now, but.. If you’re really doing this, I might as well join you.”<br/>“Umm, you don’t have to do that Maki, only one of us-”<br/>“Then I’ll do it, if anyone shouldn’t do it it’s you, I’m used to full-blown starvations, so just a few days is nothing to me.”</p>
<p>Although faintly alarmed by her statement, Shuchi smiled faintly.<br/>Offering to do something like that in his place, reminded him that even when the academy was at its darkest and he felt trapped and terrified, he wasn’t alone.</p>
<p>He shook his head, “I can’t ask you to do that by yourself, I know Monokuma or the others might notice if we do it together, but I want to do this together Maki!”</p>
<p>The assassin’s lips twitched if only for a second as she rolled her eyes at him, “ugh, I think Kaito’s stubbornness and stupidity have rubbed off on you. Fine, if you’re so determined to starve yourself be my guest, I’ll be sure to give you pointers so you don’t collapse,”<br/>Shuichi cringed, even if he was bad at eating regularly this definitely wasn’t going to be fun.<br/>“Thanks, Maki I’m really going to need it.”<br/>Her lips twitch again, “Just listen up, I won’t explain this a second time.”</p>
<p>And so he did and even with his heavy skepticism about the situation a person like Maki opening up about her own worries about this motive, her reveal that she was going through the same thing as him was enough to make the seed anxiousness in him grow further.<br/>He was still thinking logically about this, but it didn’t stop a small part of him to wonder,<br/> ‘what if?’ <br/>What if he, Maki, and even possible others if there were anymore transformed, into unholy beasts and killed the others like in the dream.<br/>A dream that had felt so real.</p>
<p>In the end, he was sure it was all a part of Monokuma’s plan to scare and aggravate them.<br/>The bear hadn’t even outright said the people who were chosen to transform would even be mindless or not, but if Shichi was wrong and keeping what he and Maki were going through from the others backfired.<br/>He would never forgive himself.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Maki was used to her fair share of night terrors.<br/>The worst had died down when her emotions and spirit had been crushed in the assassin camp.<br/>When she did have them they would usually have something to do with a family member of a target killing her, her old kills rising from the dead and ganging up on her, or if it was a particularly bad night she would dream about the children at the orphanage being slaughtered before her eyes or even her doing the child killing herself.</p>
<p>This dream was none of those things, but with how she knew it was going to play out she wished she was having one of her worst.</p>
<p>She couldn’t control her body in it.<br/>Maki was merely a backseat diver in the confounds of her mind.<br/>Trapped, unable to speak or do anything of value, but watch the carnage through her own blood-red eyes.<br/>It all felt so real.. The most realistic dream she had even had the displeasure of having.<br/>The first time she had it, even though it was actually happening </p>
<p>Her body wasn’t exactly hers either, but the body of some large, intimidating creature.<br/>Her form lowered itself to a crouch as she crept into the dining hall on all fours, the scent of fear wafting into her nostrils, long tail hissing threateningly as it flicked its forked tongue back and forth.<br/>Maki tried to stop, take even the smallest amount of control back, but it was futile.<br/>She was a prisoner.<br/>In a way that was much worse than usual.<br/>At least before she had the illusion of free will.</p>
<p>No. no wait, she didn’t want to do this.<br/>She didn’t want to.</p>
<p>It was the first time in a very long time such a thought had crossed her mind, but her body like the merciless leaders of the cult didn’t care, leaping claws unshed the closest person to her that just so happened to be Kokichi.<br/>That mask of his falling if only for a moment before Maki promptly ripped his face off.<br/>The boy let out a noise like Maki had never heard him make before, then not long after going silent as she ripped out his vocal cords.<br/>Pink staining her red fur.<br/>She didn’t even have time to think, ‘at least it was only Kokichi’ before she pounced at Gonta and Himiko next.</p>
<p>Gonta fell like a sack of bricks, having failed to protect Himiko, only giving the small girl a few extra seconds of life before Maki too, ripped her apart.<br/>With their deaths, she actually felt something..<br/>A pang although not sharp but still hurt.<br/>At least it was fast..<br/>At least they didn’t suffer.<br/>The creature though sadly, hardly even noticed it with her increasingly blurry mind when Tsmugi’s head was suddenly removed from her body and rolled under the table.</p>
<p>Miu’s fearful cries rang in her head as she jumped at the inventor who cowered behind Keebo next.<br/>Even the robot wasn’t able to stop her to her own horror, her sharp fangs sinking through Keebo’s tough metal like butter, then into the sensitive parts of his neck.<br/>Blue liquid gushed from the openings, choking out an apology to Miu before he collapsed. <br/>Miu was next of course, Maki’s tail doing most of the work as it bit into Miu’s side, the poison instantly going to work, her body violently seizing on the ground until Maki granted her what she hoped was some kind of mercy and pulled out all her organs from her body.<br/>Pink blood mixing with Keebo’s blue, making a bizarre mix of colors.</p>
<p>Two remained… and Maki wanted to scream.<br/>Scream at them to get the hell out of there, to kill her before she killed them, but of course, she couldn’t.<br/>The dream was overly cruel like that.<br/>Just like most things in her life were.</p>
<p>Poor Shuichi was her next victim.<br/>The detective who had given her a chance after she had been rude to him countless times, talked to her, let her, a killer work beside him, her…. Her friend.<br/>A boy she had been so scared to call that even in her mind, now lay dead at her paws.<br/>Dead like everyone else that had even bothered getting close to her.<br/>His eyes ironically removed from his skull.<br/>An emotion she hadn’t experienced in several years churned in her gut as she stared at his pink splattered corpse.<br/>A corpse that held so much meaning behind it.<br/>One she had actually spent time with and that gotten to know.<br/>It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.</p>
<p>This emotion… the anguish in her chest became about ten times worse when her head turned to the last person remaining, looking overwhelmingly guiltily over the bodies he had tried so hard to lead.<br/>Kaito.<br/>Despite what she had just done, who she had killed both in the past and now, the astronaut looked at her sadly, “Maki roll, I’m so, so sorry that I couldn’t stop you.”</p>
<p>She would have preferred it if he would have yelled at her, cursed her, called her a monster.<br/>What the HELL was that idiot apologizing for?!<br/>She had just KILLED everyone.<br/>She KILLED Shuchi, so why was he the one saying sorry?!<br/>WHYWHYWHY?!<br/>Why did it have to be like this?!<br/>Why was everything always taken away from her?!<br/>It felt like her chest was being ripped apart, her heart aching like it never had before as she jumped one last time.</p>
<p>The taste of Kaito’s blood filling her mouth.<br/>Unlike the other deaths, this one wasn’t quick.<br/>It wasn’t quick at all.<br/>His screaming seemed to go on forever as she tore and ripped at his flesh.<br/>His skin and meat sliding down her throat as she swallowed it down without her consent.<br/>Kaito’s blood pooled beneath him, in a shape that could only be decried as a bright pink cape, his purple eyes now without their usual stars as he looked up to Maki lifelessly.<br/>He was dead, she had..<br/>Her mind went oddly numb, the pit in her stomach swallowing her entire being.<br/>A whimper like noise somehow managed to leave her throat as she took another bite.<br/>Kaito I’m sorry, she thought mournfully then… finally… finally her torture was over and she jerked awake.</p>
<p>Her stomach churned as if Kaito’s flesh was really there, rushing to the restroom where the ultimate threw up nothing but stomach acid.<br/>She hadn’t eaten anything in a while, there was nothing in her stomach, to begin with.<br/>She wrinkled her nose, whipping the remainders of bile from her mouth.<br/>Gross.</p>
<p>Even with how much she did it and was forced to do it back ‘home’ she would never get used to it.<br/>That dream.. Was a lot worse than the last one.<br/>She had eaten bits of Kaito for god’s sake.<br/>Another pain shot up her gut, but she ignored it, trying her best to push any emotions to the back of her mind before flushing the toilet.</p>
<p>Damn Monokuma, she hated going through this shit.<br/>Dreaming the things she was, making these emotions float to the surface..<br/>Experience feelings she had never even heard before.<br/>‘Maybe if you didn’t get stupidly attached to people who are probably going to die anyway, that wouldn’t happen, you wouldn’t have to feel like this.’ what she assumed was the logical part of her mind hissed.<br/>I’m not attached, she fired back weakly.</p>
<p>The image of Kaito’s face appeared in her mind.</p>
<p>I’m not.<br/>It would just be a tad disheartening if he or Shuchi got themselves killed.<br/>“Stupid motive.. Stupid bear..” she sighed in annoyance, rolling her shoulders causing them to make a few more popping sounds than what was probably normal.<br/>She gritted her teeth, the body pains were definitely worse today.<br/>Even every strand of her hair felt like it was stabbing a needle directly into her head<br/>It wasn’t anything she couldn’t take, but she wasn’t looking forward to Shuchi’s complaining when Kaito dragged them out to do more training.<br/>Ignoring the odd pains best she could, Maki dressed into a clean pair of clothing and left her dorm.</p>
<p>The assassin had only taken a few steps when the whisper of Kokichui’s high pitched obnoxious voice reached her ears.<br/>Grate.<br/>What was he up to this time?<br/>The teenager mentally prepared herself before looking around, but… there was no sign of the supreme leader anywhere.<br/>In fact, no one was in the lobby.</p>
<p>“Hmmm I don’t know Miu, It’s still pretty suspicious to meeee! I’m surprised you haven't noticed it! He’s basically your leader, right? Or are you really that unobservant? Hmm?”<br/>Miu’s voice sounded as close as Kokichui’s she spoke up next, “unobservant!? You’re calling me of all people unobservant like I’m the dumbass, when you're the one seriously accepting this motive is real?! It’s as unbelievable as Shuichi topping someone!”<br/>“Nehehe you got me, Miu! The nets and collars aren't going to be for someone who might turn into a monster! It’s going to be for you! I’m gonna drag you around with the collar for a little bit then  throw the net over you every time you act like a nasty whore and keep you there until you starve!”<br/>Mui made an odd high pitched moaning sound, “S..starve?! Then I’m definitely not making it!”<br/>“Mmm, no I think you will because I think deep down you’re concerned about this motive too, aren't you Miu?”<br/>The inventor didn’t respond.</p>
<p>“And I bet you’ve also noticed how Kaito’s been acting lately..”<br/>Maki froze.<br/>Did.. they both seriously think Kaito was the one the motive was affecting?<br/>Maki herself knew this was false, she had been with him first hand when his sickness was at its peak, with the time range Monokuma announced the motive,  even if there was somehow a third person suffering along with her and Shuichi there was no way it was Kaito.<br/>It was just too convent.</p>
<p>“S..so what If I have!? Just because space dick is hiding the fact he’s been coughing up a lung doesn’t mean he’s going to turn into a fucking monster! I’m a girl of science you little cunt! You really think I would buy into shit like that!?”<br/>“nope! Not at all! It’s probably why you look so nervous huh? Because you don’t believe it at all!”</p>
<p>There was another beat of silence before Miu spoke again, “ugh fine! I’ll make all the shit you asked for, but you owe me big time for this Kokichi!”<br/>“Yay!! Wowie I can’t wait! I’m going to walk my wonderful Kaito all over the place then tie time to a flagpole! I bet he’s going to be so cute don’t you Miu! Think he’ll play fetch when I try to make him!?”</p>
<p>Maki had heard more than enough by this point.<br/>She wasn’t about to let Kokichui continue spouting off about Kaito of all people turning into a beast, by the sound of it and what he was asking Miu to do, the little shit was definitely planning to hurt him at some point, which Maki was not going to allow under any circumstances.<br/>She followed the voices at a hurried pace, winding up near Miu’s lab.<br/>“Just make sure you get them to me really quick okay!? Or I really will put the collar on you instead of Kaito!”</p>
<p>“Shut it, you stupid brat,” Maki hissed, finally interrupting before Miu could moan any kind of overly sexual reply, “You're not putting a dumb collar on anyone, especially, not Kaito, can’t you see this whole thing is a trap?”</p>
<p>Miu looked surprised by her sudden appearance, but Kokichi just grinned at her, “Oh, of course, I see that! It’s definitely a trap, I just like it when Miu slaves away for little old me! Makes her really happy you know? Aren't I so nice for it?!”<br/>The assassin gave him a long hard look, “I don’t know that exactly you’re planing, but If you do anything to hurt Kaito with it, I’ll fucking kill you.”<br/>“Ohhhh scary! If you weren't already a monster I would think you're the one who’s going to turn into the beast Maki!”<br/>“Shut up,” she hissed dangerously at him, her fingers twitching as if a part of her wanted to rip him apart with her nails alone.</p>
<p>Miu looked nervously between them, “calm your tits! there's not much you can even do with this stupid shit! It’s not even going to be made to hurt anything, It’s just unbreakable! I.. I can even make an extra special one for you if you do some favors for me, you can even use it on your dumb boyfriend. I know you’ve been hopelessly pinning after him, you can finally get some action-”<br/>“I’m not putting a collar on him for any reason!” she spat, pushing away the picture of it in her brain, “It’s Kokichi, of course, he’s going to figure out a way to hurt someone with all this.”</p>
<p>“M..Maki!” Kokichi whimpered, tears glimmering in his eyes, “I’m just really concerned about this motive is all, I don’t want Kaito or anyone else to eat us all! I would be so sad if that happened.. Can you imagine the hero turning into a monster and.. And eating his friends!” the small boy let out a small sob as tears began pouting dramatically down his face.<br/>“I said shut up, you’re not concerned about him or us at all, the only reason why you’re even asking Miu to do this is to trick and hurt the others.”</p>
<p>Kokichi instantly stopped crying, “you got me there Maki! With how scared almost everyone is, they’re all just too easy to manipulate. How can I resist the offer!? Having Miu create this stuff will make them spin around in the palm of my hand, pretty great idea don’t you think? Making the collars and nets like that?! Not to mention the bonus that If this motive really is real when they transform I can safely capture the poor, poor soul and make them my loyal pet! It almost makes me hope even more that it really is Kaito! he would make such a cool pet for me! I’ll bet he’ll be a cool space dog!</p>
<p>Maki narrowed her eyes, unsure what he was fully getting out.<br/>There was definitely a bigger picture to what he was telling her, but with Kokichi it was unlikely she was going to find it out.<br/>The ultimate himself was basically a living, breathing bigger picture.</p>
<p>“I don’t care about any of that, just don’t touch Kaito, he’s not going to turn into a monster.”<br/>Kokichi put a finger to his lips, “you sound almost too sure Maki.. but fine think what you want! It’ll be your fault when he eats you out in the worst way possible!”<br/>Maki would have yelled at him again for saying such a thing but with a giggle, the boy turned and skipped away toward the dining hall pausing only for a second to yell, “anyway the morning announcement it about to go off so I better run, and Miu when you're done just drop the stuff off by my dorm!” then with a wave and a large grin he was off again.</p>
<p>The assassin wanted to pull her hair out, or run after Kokichi and strangle the life out of him.<br/><strike>Or rip his neck out with her teeth, he was small it would be so easy</strike><br/>Something like a hiss caught in the back of her throat<br/>He.. REALLY got under her damn skin.</p>
<p>“You’re not really doing this for him are you?” she asked Miu once Kokichi had disappeared.<br/>Miu shrugged, “so what If I am?! Like I said they can't hurt you, and besides..” her expression fell for a moment, “It’s just in case too, you know.. I don’t want to die.”<br/>Maki frowned, she supposed even with Kokihci involved it wasn’t a bad idea..<br/>They could really come in handy if this motive turned out to be real.<br/>“Whatever if you want to believe this striped motive, do what you want, but I wouldn’t give it to Kokichi,” Maki told her involuntary touching her neck.<br/>Miu waved a dismissive hand at her, “ya, ya, I’m making them extra kinky anyways! Drop by if you ever change your mind on wanting one!”<br/>It was Miu's turn to be glared out, she was almost as annoying as Kokihchi sometimes..<br/>Why did she even bother trying to talk to her about this?</p>
<p>“No, I don’t,” she told her frankly, then without even saying goodbye turned and began to leave, leaving Miu and the inventor's sexual frustrations behind.<br/>And.. It was only when she passed the dorms again Maki realized..<br/>She had been all the way in the dorms when she had overheard Kokichi.<br/>Which shouldn’t have been possible with how far they were from Miu’s lab.<br/>She shouldn’t have heard them at all, much less that clearly so…<br/>How or why the hell had she?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Clouds before the storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which the fluff is a fucking trap.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hellos! Hellos again!<br/>Sadly this chapter is painfully short for my standers at least, but only because shit is going to hit the fan in the next much longer chapter so I didn't want to cram an extra part in there when it can just be a stand-alone fluffy chapter.<br/>Even if it's short, I still hope everyone enjoys and looks forward to the next chapter, especially for obvious reasons.<br/>ha..heheheheh I'm VERY excited to start weighting it already.<br/>These children are going to fucking SUFFER.<br/>The monsterfaction will begin very, very son my friends.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaito smiled widely at his two sidekicks as he sat beside them in the grass.<br/>
“What are we doing Kaio?” Maki grumbled, “you’re not dragging us into your slacking are you?”<br/>
The astronaut just continued to smile at them, “we’re not going to be slacking. We'll just be taking it easy for today!”</p><p>Shuichi looked relieved at this, his body going completely slack.<br/>
Proving to Kaito even more so how much the detective and her need this, despite how put together they were acting.<br/>
He had been quite worried about the two of them as of lately, ever since that damn motive had been announced to be more precise.<br/>
They had been acting lethargic like they hadn’t slept in a while and moved with much stiffer movements as if they were in some kind of pain to the point where they could hardly do any exercise with him.<br/>
On top of that, he was positive neither of them had been eating lately..</p><p>Coxing and scolding them to get back into doing all these things didn’t work and he knew more extensive training wasn’t the best idea.<br/>
It would just exhaust them further and of course, Kaito would never want that.<br/>
The best thing to do, was just to make them rest and relax for a little bit, get their mind off all the messed up things going on.<br/>
He just hoped neither of them caught what he had..<br/>
Monokuma told him personally that it was in no way contagious, it was probably just the motive messing with their heads, but it all still made Kaito feel slightly uneasy.</p><p>They weren’t taking care of themselves, that was obvious, so for now, Kaito was going to look after them the best he could.</p><p>“That’s still just slacking you, idiot, what are we going to do then? Pressure me to talk about my favorite blood type again?”<br/>
Kaito laughed loudly, Maki really was developing a sense of humor!<br/>
“Nah! Not unless you want to! I just thought we could do some cloud watching together!”</p><p>“Cloud watching..? That’s dumb,” Maki grumbled with a worrying lack of force to her tone.<br/>
“No, it’s not! It may not be nearly as cool as stargazing, but it’s still pretty fun! See look!”<br/>
He fell back onto the grass, one of his arms under his head as he pointed at the sky, “that one looks like… a goat!”<br/>
“goat?” Maki muttered, “that’s just a shape, it looks nothing like a goat.”<br/>
“You’re not even looking at it Maki roll! You gotta really look at them and use your imagination!”</p><p>“That one.. Looks a little like a kangaroo,” Shuichi decided to humor him, pointing up at the sky with him.<br/>
Kaito grinned at the detective, “There you go Shuichi! See Maki? It’s fun!”<br/>
The girl puffed out her cheeks, “this is the stupidest thing you’ve ever made us do..” she toyed with her hair for a moment, “That one.. Looks like a diamond.”<br/>
“Uhh Maki, that’s not-”<br/>
“Good job!” Kaito was sure to encourage her, with a thumbs up.<br/>
“Don’t patronize me, I’m not a child,” she snapped, but slowly lowered himself to the same position Kaito was in.<br/>
“Oh! Oh! And look! That one looks like a rocket ship!!”<br/>
“Maybe a little-” Maki grumbled squinting up at the bright sky.</p><p>“Do you.. Cloud watch often like this Kaio? I always assumed you were just about space,” Shuchui asked, the last of the trio to lie next to Kaito, but before he fully could, recoiled back up to a sitting position like something had bit him.</p><p>The detective’s hand instantly moved to his back with an odd expression on his face.<br/>
“You okay sidekick?” Kaito asked, a tad startled by his reaction.<br/>
“uhh, ya my back just... hurts is all, I think I might have slept on it funny,” Shuichi said dismissively, and turned his body around to rest on his stomach instead.<br/>
Kaito stared at him for a bit longer, It seemed like it was a good deal more serious than that.<br/>
His back had seemed to be bothering the detective more than just pains from sleeping on it wrong would have.<br/>
He would have been walking and standing funny if that were the case, but the boy was mainly just occasionally rubbing the blades of his shoulders like he half expected to find something there.</p><p>The astronaut was still concerned but decided to let it slide, for the time being, he had prodded his friend enough for today.<br/>
He motioned back at the sky with his free hand, “well space and stars are still my number one, but the sky is pretty great too! It’s connected to space after all! Why wouldn’t I like it?”<br/>
“It’s nice..” Suihuchi admitted softly.<br/>
Maki hummed in agreement, “It’s okay.. it’s warm out at least”.</p><p>Kaito chuckled, “you’re like a cat in a sunbeam huh Maki roll? That’s pretty fitting!”<br/>
The teenager glared harshly at him, “Why are you comparing me to an animal?”<br/>
The male swallowed, but luckily Shuichui came to his rescue and pointed back up at the clouds, “In.. speaking of cats, that one looks a little like one!”</p><p>Kaito turned his head to the cloud in question, “Oh ya it does! And that one looks like a bird! And that one looks like a dog! I love dogs!”<br/>
“Their loud and annoying, like you,” Maki committed coldly.<br/>
“No fair! You just compared me to an animal.." he huffed, "They’re great animals anyway! I would love to get one someday! Maybe a golden retriever or something like that!”<br/>
“I like them too, sometimes the detective agency uses them to help sniff things out, so I’m used to seeing them around,” Shuichi told them nostalgically.<br/>
“Ohh! You mean like bloodhounds and Doberman!?”<br/>
The detective nodded, looking understandably worn out as he nuzzled his head on his hands.</p><p>Kaito’s gaze turned to the large cage above them for a moment, a soft frown curling on his features, “hey, when we get out of here-”<br/>
“If,” Maki corrected, but Kaito ignored it.<br/>
“When we get out of here what are you planning to do? I’m going to space of course! But.. I’ve never asked you two what you want to do,” he questioned them abruptly, his eyes landing back on the both of them.</p><p>Shuichi barely looked awake as he shifted on the ground, “I guess I’ll just go back to my detective training, even after everything I’m still a little nervous about it, but it’s not as bad anymore..”</p><p>“And I don’t have any other choice but to go back back to the assassin camp,” Maki admitted with a frown.<br/>
“Hey! Don’t say that now! There’s always more than one choice! I’m sure there’s some way you can quit! We can team up and take them down! with me as the hero and you guys as my loyal sidekicks! All of us! Together!” He shouted, sitting back up for a moment to enthusiastically pump both his fists into the air.<br/>
Like hell, he was just going to let one of his sidekicks go back to a life as miserable as that!<br/>
He just wanted both of them to be happy, to be the best people they could be and Maki couldn’t do that If that camp continued to hurt her and force her to do horrendous things for money.<br/>
They had to get her out of it, no matter what.</p><p>Something flickered in Maki’s eyes for a moment, but it quickly vanished, “I doubt it.”<br/>
“W..well actually, me and my uncle might be able to do something about them. We just might need some of your help to identify them.”<br/>
“Really? That’s great Shuchi! See Maki, we can take those bastards down! The cult will never be able to use you or anyone else again! Then.. we can find a different way to help your orphanage!”</p><p>“I guess I would be okay with that, even if I don’t think it’s going to be near that easy” Maki replied in a much softer tone than she normally spoke to them in.</p><p>“Than after that-”<br/>
“You’re going to take us to space with you, right?” Shichi finished for him with a low chuckle, his eyes continuously drooping closed and open again.<br/>
“Yup! You got it! And I’m not taking no for an answer either! We’re all going to space as a team so I can show you the stars up close and personal!”</p><p>“You moron, we would need to pass the exams you won’t shut up about..” the ultimate assassin grumbled.<br/>
“You’re both smart, I just know you’ll pass it with flying colors!” Kaito exclaimed happily.<br/>
Even if he was no longer looking at them, he could feel their baffled looks on him, Kaito just grinned again.<br/>
He was more than used to receiving looks like that after all.</p><p>“I still don’t think we’ll be able to go Kaito,” Shuichi yawned.<br/>
“We wouldn’t be missing much anyway, stars are just… hot gas,” Maki added rudely, her eyes starting to droop closed as well.</p><p>“You take that back!” he snapped, giving the girl a disapproving stare, “none of that’s true.. Err well I guess it’s true, but that doesn’t change how amazing they are!  They’re already beautiful when we’re down here on earth, just imagine how they would look when we’re up in it! We’ll be able to see stars that aren’t even visible to us at night! They’ll be everywhere! I can’t wait to see them like that! And I want you guys to experience it with me!”</p><p>“That’s nice Kaito,” Shuichi hummed, barely awake by this point.</p><p>The astronaut continued to smile happily to himself, warm from both the sun and the pleasant conversation.<br/>
He really did have such great sidekicks.<br/>
They had come so far since he had taken them under his wing, they were growing and getting better, Kaito was so proud.<br/>
He wondered.. If the day would eventually come when they wouldn’t need him anymore.<br/>
The thought was enough to make him visibly flinch a stab on pain running through his throat, making a wet cough make its way out of his mouth that he quickly hid with a purple sleeve.</p><p>He painfully hacked a good few times, whipping the cuff of his jacket over his mouth to rid his lips of any blood.<br/>
Tensing up as he expected and feared some kind of comment from Shuchi or Maki, but… nothing.<br/>
“Sidekicks?” he looked over to them for a moment, but both of them had fallen asleep on the grass.</p><p>Amused, Kaito chuckled again.<br/>
They really had been tired.<br/>
Maki usually would have never fallen asleep in the open like that.<br/>
Just how much sleep were they losing?<br/>
He.. would have to push them about it more at a later date.</p><p>The two shouldn’t have to feel like they had to keep anything away from him!<br/>
They had to know they could tell him anything!<br/>
Whatever was wrong, he would support them!<br/>
He could see Shuichi shift in his sleep, making an odd almost Inhuman whining noise.<br/>
The astronaut felt a surge of worry travel through him accompanied by yet another pain in his stomach.</p><p>But for now… maybe some sleep would be good for him as well.<br/>
It might make some of the aches pain he was experiencing at the moment die down.<br/>
Things would get better soon, he just knew it.</p><p>For him, Shuichi, Maki, and all the others.<br/>
Things would get better</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A Twisted Metamorphosis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which the monster motive finally takes full effect.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hellos, again!<br/>I'm back!!<br/>Sorry, this chapter took so long, by the way, I was spending an annoyingly long time editing it over and over and over again just because I absolutely love transformation scenes and wanted to perfect this one.<br/>Because.. what can I say? they're really fun to write.</p>
<p>haha, Maki and Shuichi go; AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH</p>
<p>Anyhow this chapter is a lot longer than the others, about a normal length chapter to what I usually weigh, so I really hope ya'll enjoy it and think the monsters Shuichi and Maki turn into are cool as fuck!<br/>Silly little creatures they are, I love them.<br/>Just so everyone knows if you want to actually see full blow amazing art of them, It will be in the notes below, so look at it and appreciate the amazing artists who made it who you definitely should check out!!!<br/>(https://twitter.com/deathofgIitter) (MY FRIEND!!!! I LOVE THEM SO FUCKING MUCH!!!!!!)<br/>and<br/>(Furekah on Instagram) (Go look at them!! They have really cool danganronpa art dude!!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaito had a very bad feeling when he woke up.<br/>Another one of his deep, gut feelings that was impossible for him to just ignore, making the teen feel slightly unsettled from the moment he got out of bed.<br/>Something was wrong, his gut feelings were never wrong!<br/>Something about his sidekicks or the stupid motive was more than likely the reason behind it.<br/>His two friends for obvious reasons with whatever was wrong with them, their lack of self-care and motive, regardless of its fakeness still had a lingering uncertainty surrounding it with the chosen few still taking the thing seriously. <br/>If only they would listen to Kaito!<br/>It was all damn bullshit.<br/>Complete and utter bullshit, he would forever stand his ground on that.<br/>Turning people into monsters… it was as nonsensical as getting possessed after you cut off a dead man’s head!<br/>He shuddered at the thought, shaking his head to clear it of any fear.</p>
<p>Supposing, for now, none of that mattered!<br/>He would keep a close eye on everyone and as for Shuichi and Maki, well he was going to make today the day where he cheered them up enough to make them feel good as new!<br/>Just a few more pep talks and more relaxing was sure to start making them feel better!<br/>“Maki! Hey Maki-roll!” he cried enthusiastically pressing his finger relentlessly against the bell to her door.<br/>It took a few minutes of relentless ringing, but eventually, she opened up, looking even worse than yesterday.<br/>Dark bags sagged under her red eyes and even her normal red scrunchies weren’t in her hair, forgotten on the dresser most likely, leaving it to fall limply from her head, nearly touching the ground.</p>
<p>She looked like she hadn’t slept again..<br/>“Good morning!” he chirped at her choosing not to commit, grabbing her by her arm and pulling the red eyed girl out the door, “come on Maki-roll, I was thinking last night and today you, me, and Shuichi are all going to cloud watching again since you both fell asleep doing it yesterday!”<br/>Strangely, Maki only grumbled at this and let him pull her along to his second sidekick’s door.<br/>Shuichi somehow looked even worse than Maki when he eventually answered, the same dark bags with his black hair sticking up in every direction and his uniform on the wrong way.<br/>“Hu-” The detective was barely able to mutter before Kaito grabbed him as well, basically dragging the two as he babbled at them all the way.</p>
<p>“Did neither of you sleep again!? You both look offal!”<br/>“I don’t… feel very good today,” Shuichi admitted quietly.<br/>“I’ve felt better..” Maki added half-heartedly, finally jerking her hand from Kaito’s grasp as they barged into the cafeteria.<br/>“I thought you might, that’s why we’re going to take it easy again! I can tell you even more of my stories! I have so many! I can’t wait!” <br/>The two grumbled in acknowledgment, collapsing in their respective chairs.</p>
<p>“Okay! Now sit right there and I’ll get you both something to eat to get your strength back up! I’m not taking no for an answer this time either!”<br/>“No thanks, Kaito.. I’m not hungry,”<br/>“I don’t want anything either.”<br/>Kaito frowned at them, they still felt bad enough not to eat?<br/>“Hmph! Well at least try to eat something this time! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”<br/>“We just said we don’t want any-”<br/>“I’ll get you something you can both stomach don’t worry!” he interrupted Maki, slapping the two of them on the back before leaping up and bounding into the kitchen.</p>
<p>“Ohhhh hey Kaito, if you're playing Kirumi whip me up some pancakes while you're at it!” Kokichi called after him to Kaito’s annoyance which he chose to ignore.</p>
<p>The astronaut didn’t know too much about cooking or food in general but was sure porridge should be fine for them.<br/>He could always remember his grandparents making it with honey drizzled on top when he was feeling under the weather.<br/>The astronaut grinned to himself, ya! That sounded good!<br/>He could even make it look like a galaxy full of stars for them!<br/>It would make them feel much better!<br/>Or at least.. He hoped it would.<br/>He stifled a cough as one tickled at his throat and grimaced.<br/>It’s what he HAD to do and he was.. He was a hero.<br/>Even if he wasn’t feeling good as well.<br/>Even if this cough he had was only getting much worse and it felt like razors blades were tearing his throat apart.<br/>He didn’t matter.<br/>He shouldn’t matter, they did.<br/>They were the important ones here, the very last thing they deserved was being dragged into anything when they were already suffering.</p>
<p>“Oh! Kaito! Gonta is glad to see you this morning!”<br/>Kaito nearly jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, turning away from the counter to wave at the other teenager, “Hey Gouna! You’re not feeling bad too are you?”<br/>“No Gouna is feeling fine… is any of others feeling sick?”<br/>“Ya, but don’t worry! I’m sure they’ll start feeling better in no time!”<br/>The gentle giant shifted uneasily on his feet before softly asking, “so.. You don’t think any of friends will turn into monsters?”<br/>Kaito couldn’t suppress an annoyed huff, “Of course not! I’ve already told you Gouna! This movie is just to make us fight each other! No one is going to turn into a monster!”<br/>“B..But Kokichi and Himiko say-”<br/>“Don’t listen to what they say! They’re trying to mess with you! actually... probably just Koikichi, but humans can’t turn into monsters, okay? I bet the people feeling sick are only feeling sick because they only think they’re going to turn into a monster… the motive is just messing with their brains!”</p>
<p>His fellow ultimate still looked unsure, but nodded with a large grin, “O..Okay! Gonta understands! Gounta just worried for everyone!”<br/>The astronaut let himself smile alongside him, “me too big guy, but more importantly than that stupid crap, what are you in here for? getting breakfast?”<br/>“Gouna is getting breakfast for Kokichi! He wants pancakes..”<br/>“What?!” the shorter boy yelped, “Gouna you don’t have to do that for him! You have to stop letting him push you around like that! Kokichi can get his own food-”</p>
<p>A loud drawn-out scream rang out before Kaito could finish, making the two’s heads snap around.<br/>A shiver ran down his spine.<br/>“Huh?! What that!?” Gonta asked in alarm.<br/>“It.. sounded like it came from the dining hall, we have to go check, now!”<br/>“But Koki-”<br/>“Fuck that! Someone might be hurt! Come on!” he snapped, not bothering to wait for him as Kaito rushed back into the other room, the bad feeling in his gut more noticeable than ever.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure what to expect.<br/>A dead body?<br/>An injured person?<br/>A fight?<br/>One of Kokichis's stupid antics?<br/>But… it wasn’t this.</p>
<p>All the teenagers trapped in the academy were cowering in the corner of the room, their eyes wide and frightened with even Kokichi looking genuinely scared of the two forms that withered violently on the ground.<br/>The forms of none other than Maki and Shuichi.<br/>His heart plummeted, rushing over to their trembling sides, where Shuichi had fallen to his knees, sweating profusely and Maki was twitching in an uncomfortable-looking sitting position, the others cries for him to stay away reaching death ears. <br/>“Shuichi! Maki-roll! What’s wrong?!"<br/>“K..Kaito..! Get away from us! get away from us NOW,” Maki hissed, her face twisted in pain and her eyes..<br/>Kaito nearly flinched away from her.</p>
<p>Her eyes.. didn’t look human anymore.<br/>Her pupil had somehow become slit and the rest of her eye had been completely taken over by red.</p>
<p>“H..huh!? Like hell, I will! You’re both in pain!”<br/>Maki growled at him, a low animal-like nose that rumbled deep in her chest as something shifted under her clothing.<br/>“Moerrrrrrrrrvvve!” she spat, her words sounding more like a drawn-out snarl as she glared harshly at him.</p>
<p>Kaito’s throat felt tight, looking over to Shuichi in the faint hope the detective would say something to dismiss this, but the boy only looked up to him and for once met his eyes.<br/>“I… Kaito… the motive.. It’s real.. It’s real.. You and the others… please just.. Please get out!” the smaller boy choked out, a steady stream of saliva dripping uncontrollably from his mouth.</p>
<p>The detective’s nails quite literally denting the ground as three out of the five of them turned into sharpened claws and fused with the skin of his hand as they both changed in texture.<br/>The appearance now a lot less fleshy and more like the skin of a bird's foot, spreading up his arm, the bones in his arms shifting as Shuichi’s sleeves slowly ripped.</p>
<p>Kaito could basically hear his heartbeat, watching the changes to his friend’s body that was confirming what he had been so bluntly denying these past few days.<br/>“Y-You both-”<br/>“Are turrrrning into monserrrrs, you idiot! So get the hell away before we hurrrrrhhhrhhht you!”<br/>Kaito could barely understand that last part, Maki’s teeth curling out of her mouth past her lips, a lot larger than they had been just a moment ago, thick layers of what looked like hair, or in this context fur starting to sprout all over her arms.<br/>Her shoulders starting to bulge out oddly from her clothing.</p>
<p>“Kaito! I beg of you to be logical about this!” Keebo pleaded from in front of a trembling Miu, “remember what Monokuma said!”<br/>“That they’ll lose their minds and become bloodthirsty so plainly get away!” Tsumugi finished.<br/>“Hell no! I’m not leaving my sidekick’s sides when this is happening to them!”</p>
<p>Shuichi looked close to tears at this, like Maki fur…. Or no more, white feathers spreading across his face, his body shaking harshly as something pushed at the seat of his pants, “Ka-Kaito please-”<br/>“No! I’m not going to leave you!” he snapped, grabbing the smaller boy and shaking him, hard.<br/>His sidekick made a small gasping noise, the bones in his shoulders shifting under Kaitos's hands.<br/>The placement of them moving closer to the front of his body.</p>
<p>A fear that Kaito had never truly felt before, even in the times he had gazed down at his pink splattered hands thinking about his death gripped the boys very soul, his hands shaking ever so slightly as he could feel Shuichi’s bones move, even more, the very structure of them changing shape.</p>
<p>The fact that this was actually happening wasn’t the thing that truly scared Kaito though, which was saying a lot, the truly frightening thing was the fogginess in their eyes.<br/>A strange sort of glassiness that a sick dog would have as it lost all awareness for the world and went rabid against its owner.</p>
<p>“Karrrrrto! I merrran it! G-get away ferrrrom us!” Maki shrieked, with one swift motion knocking him away from them with a hand.<br/>He grunted in pain, a trickle of blood dripping across his forehead caused by the claws Maki now bore, having torn out of her regular nails, the assassins breathing raspy as her hands began to distort.<br/>“Gonta get Kaito.”<br/>Kokichi’s voice barely registered to Kaito as he instantly reached out to the two again, to somehow try and help them! Calm them down! Do anything but just watch like this was all some kind of twisted television show!</p>
<p>“Huh?”<br/>“I said get Kaito! Unless you want one of them to kill him!” Kokichi ordered, for once, his commanding tone fitting that of an ultimate supreme leader.<br/>“R..Right!” Gonta agreed hastily and before Kaito could properly react, grabbed him around his waist successfully pinning his arms to his sides as he pulled Kaito away.<br/>“Sorry! Gonta sorry! This for your own good! Gonta doesn’t want friends to hurt Kaito!”<br/>The astronaut wiggled sporadically in the larger arms, “I don’t care! I have to help them, so let me go!”<br/>“Whatever you do, don’t do that! Don’t let that idiot go!” Kokichui countered, forcing the others even further back into the corner, the small boy’s eyes drifting to an odd spot on the floor as his sidekick’s bodies became even more distorted.<br/>The back of Maki’s clothing ripping as long, fine needles like hair, a little like the quills of a porcupine grew from her back.</p>
<p>The assassin bit her lip to resist making any sounds of pain as the bones of her fingers pulled into her hand, getting shorter, her thumb moving up her hand that now was more like a fleshy paw.<br/>The opposite happening to Shuichi the claws on his fingers extended drastically, this thumbs twisting around to the back of his hand as the pale color of his skin switched to a pure white.<br/>His long sharp talons scratching up the floor, his offal screams ripping Kaito’s heart to shreds.</p>
<p>One of the boy's clawed hands moved to paw at the sides of his head for a moment as his ears moved up his head, flopping over like a dogs as they got longer and longer, black feathers growing all over them.</p>
<p>His new unfamiliar forearms along with the lack of balance overall making the detective fall on his face as a large feathery tail burst out from the back of his outfit, growing even longer as it fearfully moved between his legs.</p>
<p>Shuichi struggled to get back to the same position struggling to move his arms, his yellow eyes growing wide as he spotted his new tail, surprised enough by it to fall back on his rear once again, nearly landing directly on the newly grown limb as his elbows twisted backward with a few grotesque crunching sounds.</p>
<p>“E-everyone It’s okay everyone! I’m doing everything I can to make a forcefield!” Himiko promised, hiding her small form behind Gonta.<br/>“Like that’s gonna do jack shit! It’s not going to stop those two from ripping us apart! Cock..cockichi where the hell are the fucking nets you asked me to make!?” Miu yapped, grabbing onto Keebo’s arm as she desperately tugged on him.<br/>“No, they’re not! They would never do that!” Kaito protested, still struggling to no avail.<br/>“Not if their minds are gone you idiot so sit down and shut up!” Kokichi yelled at him, right beside the wall of the dining hall now, desperately searching the tall grass.</p>
<p>“YOU SHUT UP!” he spat back, kicking and fighting in the strong arms holding him, only able to watch the fur and needles continued to spread across Maki’s body, her face pulling out into something that wasn’t hers and nose flattening out into triangle-like shape.<br/>Whiskers that could only come from a cat grow from her muzzle gnashing her teeth that finally fit properly into her mouth.<br/>The claws on her fingers became a lot thinner like felines would be, the fur growing over her paws, her ears slowly climbing to the top of her skill and turning pointed with tuffs of red fur growing on top.</p>
<p>Next to her poor Shuichi screamed, as his face pushed out as well, stretching out far beyond Maki’s, his nose sinking into his face, turning into more a pair of slits as fangs formed on the bottom of his muzzle.<br/>His ears still growing down past his shoulders that made another popping noise and moved even further to a more quadruple position, tears of pain dribbling from his eyes as he whined.</p>
<p>“Shuichi! Maki! Stay strong you two! I know you’re both so strong so don’t let this control you!” he shouted at them, only just able to keep the fear out of his voice.</p>
<p>“Quit diverting their attention to us like that! When their minds slip you’ll be the first one they’ll attack!” Keebo warned.<br/>“y..Ya! Don’t make me put a silencing spell on you!”<br/>Kaito was still deaf to the others, only listening to the noises of pain from his friends.<br/>He had never heard anyone scream the way Shuichi was screaming..<br/>It was beyond horrific for the astronaut to hear and be unable to help him.</p>
<p>Then.. Kaito stopped struggling from shock as he watched the light left in their eyes began to fade.<br/>Any awareness, understanding, and even intelligence they held draining from their minds.<br/>Growing duller and duller with every passing second and the glassiness more and more apparent.<br/>“Wa..what...is...this?” Shuichi asked shakily clearly on the break of hyperventilating, not even paying it too much mind when his right shoe burst open, a large paw that was abnormally long splitting out, only growing longer and longer his three remaining toes twitching as sharp black claws grew from them.</p>
<p>His sitting stance shifted even further apart, both of his legs becoming wider, the right one more so tearing large holes in his pant legs, his other shoe bursting open next with a paw that was smaller with a different structure than the other with a lower stance and shorter foreleg.<br/>Both legs mismatched on him, obviously from two completely different animals.<br/>Not able to even continue sitting properly as the odd legs wobbled unstably.<br/>Yapping miserably as his right paw only got longer and the heel of the left was pulled, making it impossible to walk on like he used to.</p>
<p>Most of the detective’s clothing was now in tatters, making the black feathers on his right leg and brown fur on the left slightly visible as they poked out of the rips.<br/>“Huh..? n-no wait.. I don’t want to for..get about her.. I.. please.. Please not herrrr. Anyone.. but.. but-”<br/>Shuichi’s words trailed off into a low rumbling noise, followed by a horrible in-human wail that made even Kokichi cringe as the supreme leader finally curled his fingers around something in the grass.</p>
<p>Maki meanwhile, looked the most frightened Kaito had ever seen her.<br/>Shaking her head repeatedly, to try and rid herself of the fluff currently filling it.<br/>A shudder traveled through her body, a low hissing noise making its way out of her maw as a thin, scaly red and black tail wormed its way from beneath her skirt.<br/>The flesh at the tip splitting open as a pair of yellow eyes, a mouth, and a slit nose like Shuichi's formed on the tail.<br/>The shape quickly morphing onto the head of a snake, a forked tongue whipping out of the snake's mouth as the thing hissed at them.</p>
<p>“K..Kahhh..ihhhto,” Maki slurred breathlessly, grinding her fangs against the pain she was experiencing, struggling to get into a crouching position, “I...I l-” she tried to utter the last the possible words she would ever say to him before her humanity and feelings were stripped away for a second time, but… she wasn’t able to finish, wasn’t able to tell him.<br/>Maki’s ears flattened to her head, her eyes flashing with one last emotion, despair, before that vanished as well, everything except animalistic rage did really.</p>
<p>It was winning..<br/>The damn motive was beating his sidekicks!<br/>“Shuichi! Maki! Stop that! Stop being stupid and snap out of it damn it! What kind of sidekicks are you if you just let this take control of you! Come on Shuichi, are you really going to forget about Kaede after everything she did for us! A-and Maki what were you going to say?! Come on tell me!”<br/>Neither responded or even acknowledged his words, now merely twitching about and struggling in the remainders of their clothing.<br/>Kaito opened his mouth to yell at them again when Gonta slapped one of his large hands over his mouth, dragging Kaito back towards the door that his other classmates lingered by.<br/>The expressions all twisted in terror but didn’t move to open the door, obviously still not wanting to leave the dining room without everyone which included him.</p>
<p>Something Kaito would have been proud of them for and appreciated if it weren't for the situation.<br/>Tsumugi shot a glance at him and put a finger to her lips while Kokichi mouthed what looked like a line of insults, before stepping in front of them all, pulling a small pin out of the ball he had picked up and hurled it at the transforming two.</p>
<p>Kaito exclaimed his own muffled curses at the boy, watching as whatever that thing was rolled near Maki and Shuichi, making an odd ticking sound before a large shiny net launched into the air.</p>
<p>Covering the two as they made their own noises of anger and panic.<br/>Maki’s tail hissing threateningly at Kokichi as just like with Shuichi her front and back limbs making an ear grating snapping noise and jutted out oddly, narrowing and bulking up, the red fabric on her legs as well as her sleeves tearing to shreds as her feet went through the same transformation process of her hands.<br/>Turning into large paws, with sharp claws that completely destroyed her boots.<br/>The ultimate assassin hissed loudly, clearly in pain and pissed off all to hell as she instantly began clawing at the metal mesh of the net she was trapped in.</p>
<p>In response startled by the noise Shuichi struggled to scramble away from her, his visible feathers fluffing up in fear.<br/>“SSSSKKKKKKKKKREEEEEEEEKKEKE!” Shuichi screamed, his body flailing and twitching wildly like the confounded animal he had become, lashing out his long claws that were to the other's horror, were successfully tearing at the so-called ‘unbreakable net.’</p>
<p>The bird creature shrieked again and again and again, these even higher in pitched, agonized really, nearly making Gounta lose his grip on Kaito due to how much the astronaut was struggling, only really succeeding in slow the group down as they continued to try and escape before the net was most likely broken.<br/>“Cut it out, space dick!”<br/>“Kaito please stop!”<br/>Miu and Keebo shouted, but it was drowned out by more of Shuichi’s pained screaming, swiping, and attempting to bite at his back as something twisted from the insides of his uniform once again.</p>
<p>The net breaking even further by the sheer sharpness of both his and Maki’s claws.<br/>“Miu you whore! I thought you were going to make those damn things strong enough to at least take a few scratches from a literal pussy and an overgrown chicken!” Kokichi snapped.<br/>“H-hey why are you blaming me!? I… I didn’t even think this was going to happen, of course, I half-assed it!” Miu cried.<br/>After a few more screeches the rest of Shuichi’s uniform finally caved, two striped brown wings breaking free, flapping erratically as they were soon tangled in the net.<br/>The changes to the detective changes slowing down as his back arched into a sickening angle and feathers spread over the remainder of his body.</p>
<p>Maki bared her teeth, snarling in pain as her changes finished up as well, her spine curving to fit that of a four-legged animal as two long ribbon-shaped…. god, he didn’t even know WHAT the hell it was grew out from her checks.<br/>Not fur… but not any kind of whisker either, moving to precisely not to be completely controlled by her.<br/>Whatever the things were whipped around dangerously growing so long that they would have tailed off on the floor her hair at one point had.<br/>The odd ribbons easily maneuvered out of the gaps in the net, tugging on it as the detective screamed even louder than before, clawing desperately at the net to free himself with Maki.</p>
<p>“God damn it! All of you are so useless and stupid! I should push you all right at them you know! Ugh!! Come on what are you waiting for! Just knock out Kaito or something! we need to go now!”</p>
<p>The purple man in question didn’t even bother throwing a glare at Kokichi's direction.<br/>The only thing he wanted to do right now was consol his sidekicks, his closest friends here, but wasn’t able to be granted that as Gonta picked him up off his feet and full-on carried the astronaut away.</p>
<p>A hash cough shook his body, his insides aching painfully as he continued to hack several more times, luckily only spraying a small amount of blood from his lungs that no one seemed to notice.<br/>No one but Maki that is.</p>
<p>It was the first time Maki looked at him before her mind seemed to melt away, but he wouldn’t say she looked completely confused or lost as she gazed at him for a moment then at Gouna, her ears drawing back even with an angry snarl.</p>
<p>She looked even angrier than before, furious beyond comprehension.<br/>No longer an animal rage, but the kind of unchecked anger that held something behind it.<br/>Then before the others could even do as much as blink, her fur or more he needles on her back spiked up completely, breaking the net even further, her lips drawn back in a terrifying snarl as after a few more swipes finally ripped open a portion of the net large enough for her to wiggle out of.<br/>Kaio couldn’t even yell for Maki to stop as she quickly lept for them.</p>
<p>“Gonta look out!” Tsmugi cried just in just enough time to make the large boy move out of her way, making Maki miss him and crash headfirst into the wall.<br/>The loud noise and Maki’s attack scared Shuichi further.<br/>Wailing loudly, the net still on him as he crashed into a nearby chair, in a sad attempt to escape, still stumbling like a newborn foul on his mismatched limbs when he fled under the table.</p>
<p>The room was thrust into even more chaos, a handful of his classmates finally fleeing the building as Maki lept at them again, her eyes unmoving from Gonta.<br/>The ribbons on her cheeks splitting open from a slit he hadn’t seen, revealing rows of more sharp teeth.<br/>“No! Maki! Stop trying to hurt Gonta!”<br/>The large cat only hissed at him, claws outstretched and teeth in her ribbons snapping at him, but her claws met nothing but metal as Keebo jumped in front of the gentle giant, that thankfully didn’t seem to even dent the robot, taking the blow and knocking her harshly aside.</p>
<p>With a roar, the cat was flung again to the other side of the room, not wasting a second to get back up as a few drops of pink trickled from her front leg.<br/>Looking over the others angrily, her eyes only softened when they got to Kaito and dilated with rage when on Gonta.</p>
<p>It was then Kaio understood.<br/>She thinks he's hurting me…<br/>Maki was trying to protect him!<br/>Or at least that's what he was sure of!<br/>She must have recognized him at least a little then!<br/>She wouldn’t have been looking at him in such a way and only aimed for Gonta and not someone closer like Kokichi if that weren’t the answer! <br/>She was trying to protect him, even like this..<br/>Keeping that in mind, if Gonta didn’t let go of him, she was going to end up hurting him and the others.</p>
<p>Ignoring the pains still gripping his body, while Gonta’s grip weakened from nearly being attacked, he struggled some more, twisting his head to the side then out of pure desperation to get away, bit Gonta’s arm as hard as he could.<br/>It was enough for the large teen to quickly let go of him and jump back rubbing his arm with a hurt expression.</p>
<p>“Sorry Gonta, but I have to help my sidekicks!” He apologized before rushing over to Maki without a second thought.<br/>Not even considering what those claws of hers could do to human skin if she decided to attack him.</p>
<p> “No! No! No! No! Kaito damn it, there’s no end to how stupid you are!” Kokichi spat, one of the last humans in the room by this point, the others having already rushed out in the panic.<br/>Kaito canceled him out, directing his attention to the large cat, who although didn’t lash out, bristled at his approach.</p>
<p>“Maki! I’m okay, see?! Gonta wasn’t hurting me, I promise, so don’t attack him okay?! That’s not what a hero’s sidekick would do! It was all just a misunderstanding!”</p>
<p>“Eeerrrrrrrrrow?” She rumbled quietly, calming down if only slightly, her ribbons closing again.<br/>“Uhh, that's right! No attacking! Even like this, I’m not letting you kill anyone, ever again!”<br/>The monster crept closer to him and sniffed at his jacket, her needles and fur finally starting to lie flat.<br/>“Rrrrrowww?” she meowed, something flashing in her eyes as she glanced at the inside of his jacket then to the flecks of pink still on the corners of his mouth.<br/>“The blood? Uh, don’t worry about that! This was all me! I just.. have a cut in my mouth is all! Must have bitten my tongue is all! So it’s okay! Everything’s okay!”<br/>Maki just sniffed and licked her bleeding leg.</p>
<p>Kaito let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, she at least seemed less murderous.<br/>He was sure she wasn’t just going to hurt anyone willy-nilly.</p>
<p>Now that she was calmer… where had Shuichi gone?<br/>He got to his feet and crouched next to the table, glancing under it where Shuichi was of course cowering, still shuttering under the net with his wings over his head.<br/>“Shuichi!” he spoke in a much softer tone, “It’s going to be okay buddy! I… know you’re freaked out right now, but don’t worry, I’ll protect you! Because I’m Kaito Momota! Luminary of the stars! I’m the hero here and the hero has to look after his sidekicks!”<br/>The large bird only shuddered inside the net with a high-pitched squawking noise, kicking his paws to try again to get it off his body.<br/>“Hold on let me get that off of you! Then you’ll know you can trust me!”</p>
<p>“No! Don’t you dare you retard! He might be a giant chicken but that doesn’t mean he's not going to kill you and send you to your stupid stars!” Kokichi warned from a distance only getting a response from Maki who glared and hissed at the boy making him instantly shut his mouth and take a step back.</p>
<p>Shuichi recoiled as soon as Kaito’s hands touched him, freezing when the astronaut completely removed the net.<br/>“See! It’s off! That proves I’m not going to hurt you right?”<br/>Shuichi slowly peaked out from under his wings, eyes flashing with familiarince only to hide again when Maki stuck her head under the table to look at him.<br/>“Hey! It’s okay! It’s just Maki! She’s my sidekick too! We train together! She would never hurt you! You’re both friends after all! So come on Shuichi, you’re shaking… come on out from under there. I can help you… you can trust me!”<br/>Shuichi's ears twitched and he looked at him again then Maki, who looked very disinterested, already gazing off in Kokichi’s direction, the odd flesh ribbons on her checks swaying softly.</p>
<p>His prey-like gaze shifted between them for a good few minutes before he slowly crawled out from under the table with his head lowered at them.<br/>Kaito was careful not to make any sudden movements even if he wanted to cheer at the progress he had already made.<br/>“K...kkhh.kkhhkk?” Shuichi clicked at him, his tail flicking anxiously, creeping over about as slow as an animal could, hesitating before nudging Kaito with the tip of his snout.</p>
<p>Good! This was good!<br/>They both must recognize him to some extent! They weren’t mindless killers then, like the rest of the group assumed, but then again with their forcefully taken memories, didn’t seem entirely there either.<br/>The thought almost made him relapse into some kind of grief, but he didn’t let it last even for a moment.<br/>He had to look at the positives about this!<br/>They still recognized him and weren’t aggressive, things much better than what they could have been.</p>
<p>“See! There you go!” Kaito cried, forgetting to be quiet for a moment as he wrapped his arm around the bird who squawked in surprise, but didn’t pull away, “I’m your friend, even if you don’t remember it!”<br/>Shuichi made another set of strange clicking noises inhaling the scent of Kaito’s clothing and relaxed as he cuddled closer to him.</p>
<p>“M-Merrrrrrowwwwrrrrrrr!”<br/>“Ssssssssssiiss”<br/>Kaito felt a poke to his side and suppressed an amused laugh, to see Maki poking his side with her paw, an almost pouty look on her maw as the snake of her tail flicked its tongue against his arm. <br/>“Awww Maki-roll if you wanted a hug you could have just said so!”<br/>She just blinked at him, kneading the floor with her claws and continuing to pout.</p>
<p>Kaito patted her head, only to jerk his back as he accidentally stabbed his hand directly into one of the needles on her neck.<br/>Ow.. okay.. Those had been literal needles growing from her body then.<br/>Maki’s and Shuichi’s biology was very… unnatural to say the least, this was going to take some getting used to.<br/>He didn’t know the first thing taking care of animals let alone unknown creatures that his friends had somehow transformed into.</p>
<p>Both Maki and Shuichi made a concerned noise, but Kaio just smiled and quickly whipped the blood from his hand, “It’s okay you two! It’s okay…. I’ll do everything I can to make things better for you, Monokuma’s motive be damned!”<br/>Maki only huffed and wrapped one of the long ribbons around his arm while Shuichi pawed at his leg with his talons making Kaito wince in pain.</p>
<p>A sharp whistle from the other side of the room broke whatever moment Kaito was having with the two.<br/>Shuichi jumped, his shaking getting worse again as Maki growled softly, her grip tightening on her arm.</p>
<p>“Kokichi?” he muttered at the small boy.<br/>He hadn’t even noticed the ultimate was still there.<br/>“You really shouldn't be doing that you knowwwww!” <br/>“Huh?”<br/>“Silly Kaito! You’re touching them all over when they could snap at any moment you know! All GRRRR!!! Hissss! Hissss! squawk!! Growl! Growl!” the supreme leader cried, flapping his arms up and down.</p>
<p>Kaito shook his head at the boy,” no they won't!” He protested, with Maki hissing angrily right after.<br/>Kokichi made a tsking noise and waved a finger at him, “hmmm I’m not sure about that! You should really back off Kaito and let your good friend Kokichi take over! Before your… sidekicks do something they can’t take back.”<br/>“I already said that won’t happen! I’ll make sure of it!” He repeated, giving Shuichi a reassuring head pat.</p>
<p>The smaller boy’s expression turned a lot more serious, “if they end up completely losing their minds and kill you, you know they’ll probably be executed as the blackened right? They’ll turn back all like, whatttt?! I killed Kaito?! No! Please no! Nooooooo!” He cried, putting a hand dramatically over his head, “then they’ll be all brutally executed for a crime they couldn’t help or whatever, it’s almost like you want it to happen! Do you want it to happen Kaito?”<br/>“Of course I don’t but-!” <br/>“Good, then you must also agree with me about putting them away forever! Lock them up and throw away the key! I’m a little sad about never seeing Shuichi again but Maki being gone, more than makes up for it! Nihehe!”</p>
<p>Kaito ground his teeth.<br/>If he knew him any better he would have said Kokichi was trying to help in his odd way, but then again this was Kokichi.<br/>There was no way to know what he wanted here.<br/>Nonetheless, he was hardly letting someone like Kokichi put them away.<br/>That wasn’t the best thing to do with them, he just knew it!<br/>Treating them like they were mindless monsters was bound to just make them lash out.</p>
<p>Shuichi even seemed more skittish, like a prey animal about the whole thing than anything than any kind of predator.<br/>Maki might be a little trouble around Kokichi, but he could handle it!<br/>He would look after them and make sure they didn’t do anything bad until they turned back..<br/>Whenever that was..<br/>The motive didn’t work.. no one was dead so hopefully it would be soon.</p>
<p>“No Kokichi! We’re not doing that! You don’t need to worry, Okay?! I’ll take care of everything! They won’t hurt me, I’m sure of it!”<br/>“Who said I was worried about that!? In fact… I think you’re right! Them killing you would be a lot more amusing to watch then the latter! I can hear the sweet sounds of their screams already.. I wonder what kind of execution they’ll get.. Something cool for sure, especially with Maki! Maybe she’ll get shot full of holes! Or oh oh oh! Stabbed until she slowly bleeds to death! Or ripped apart like she ripped you apart! And with Shuichi lets see-”</p>
<p>“Will you cut it out?!” he snapped, feeling Ill at the thought, “you have to believe in them a little! It’s not going to happen, end of story!”<br/>Kokichi had the nerve to look frustrated with HIM, still looking at Maki warily as he stuck out his bottom lip, “but Kaito! Believing is your thing! Even if this happened because of my bff Monokuma, I can’t, just can’t believe in it! I mean, Maki’s paw is bigger than my face and she’s already looking at me like she wants to eat me! But… I guess you're just too stupid to reason with, huh?”<br/>“I am not-”<br/>“Well, either way, you’ll have the others to talk to about this and I don’t think they’ll be near as agreeable as me, so come to me when you need help locking them up okay?”</p>
<p>Kaito didn’t even bother pointing out the contradictions in what he said, glowering at the smaller teen, “I’ll manage to convince them! I just know it! So everything's going to be fine!”<br/>The supreme leader rolled his eyes, “ 'fine, fine, it'll be okay because I believe in them.' ugh! you’re just a broken record you know that? Cleshsay superhero movies would think up better lines than you.. Well, if you’re done blabbering I better tell the others you didn’t get eaten before they freak out.. We wouldn't want that would we?”<br/>“No, but-”<br/>“Okay then! Bye-bye for now! Give Shuichi a scratch under his chin for me too! He's a real cutie like this! Even cuter than normal.” Kokichi finished, giving Kaito a large toothy gin, his smile falling a little when he looked at Maki and her still tense form before finally leaving the area.</p>
<p>About damn time… he had just been making his sidekicks more freaked out, which either of them needed right now.<br/>“Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrow,” Maki rumbled, turning away from the door and looking back to him with a bored expression, as Shuichi squawked again, his claws digging further into his leg as the large bird buried his face in his jacket.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, like I said, I’ll look after you!” he promised once again, patting both their heads affectingly, this time careful not to stab himself on Maki’s needles.</p>
<p>Yes, he would!<br/>He was sure he would!<br/>It would be a challenge with everything happening, he was still in a good amount of shock.<br/>He had just watched his poor friends transform into monsters.<br/>How Monokuma did this, he would never know and not bother to think about it, but he was up for the challenge 100%!</p>
<p>No matter what they looked like or how they acted, they could always be his sidekicks!<br/>Sidekicks who he would look after no matter what!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
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<p>Isn't he a cutie?! he is literally all prey animal because Shuichi is a pathic bottom who will always be prey.<br/>Just to make it a little clearer to as I didn't go too much into it.<br/>His different legs are that of a doggo and a kangaroo, so he's a very cute lad.</p>
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<p>Maki is literally just a big kitty.<br/>Look at her how cute she is, I adore her.<br/>Also just in case you were wondering the ribbons are her cheeks are basically the same as a Sylveon, they're flashable strips of flesh that can grab whatever she wants.<br/>The only difference is hers can open into a mouth with lots of sharp teeth.<br/>Her tail is that of a Western mud snake in case anyone was wondering and the cat she is is based off a mix of a Caracar and a bay cat.</p>
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